“What we do not know yet is always more important than what we know now.” Gianni Rodari, Il libro degli errori (The book of errors) 1993.
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L’anno nuovo Gianni Rodari “Indovinami, Indovino, tu che leggi nel destino: l’anno nuovo come sarà? Bello, brutto o metà e metà?”. “Trovo stampato nei miei libroni che avrà di certo quattro stagioni, dodici mesi, ciascuno al suo posto, un Carnevale e un Ferragosto e il giorno dopo del lunedì sarà sempre un martedì. Di più per ora scritto non trovo nel destino dell’anno nuovo: per il resto anche quest’anno sarà come gli uomini lo faranno!” |
The new year Gianni Rodari “Tell me, tell me, Fortune-teller, you who are able to read the future: what new year have you foreseen? Good, bad, or someplace in between?” “I find printed in my great tomes that there will be four seasons, twelve months, each one in its place, a Mardi Gras and an Assumption Feast and the day that comes after Monday will always be a Tuesday. I find written nothing more of the new year and what’s in store: this new year, too, at any rate will be exactly what Man makes of it!”
Translation ©Matilda Colarossi 2019 |
I wish you all a happy new year. May 2020 be a time of peace and justice, of love and kindness. May you see yourself reflected in the eyes of your mothers, your fathers, and your Brothers. May the terms “us” and “them” never be spoken again . -M.C.
This poem is taken from the book: Filastrocche per tutto l’anno (Rhymes for the whole year) Torino, Einaudi.
Other poems for children by the wonderfully talented Gianni Rodari at: https://paralleltexts.blog/tag/gianni-rodari/
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.
parallel texts: words reflected 